JNU Students Defy Authorities To Screen Beef Documentary On Campus

A member of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union shouts slogans during a protest against a gang rape of two teenage girls in Katra village, outside the Uttar Pradesh state house, in New Delhi, India, Friday, May 30, 2014. A top government official said the northern Uttar Pradesh state has sacked two police officers who failed to respond to a complaint by the father of the two teenage girls who went missing and were later found gang raped and killed. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

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NEW DELHI -- After they were denied permission to screen a documentary on the beef eating practices of Mumbai, students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi defied authorities and screened Caste on the Menu Card on Sunday night.

While JNU authorities claimed that the screening was canceled because the students did not seek permission from the dean, students said attributed it to socio-political reasons, The Indian Express reported on Monday.

Students went from hostel to hostel on Sunday night to mobilise an audience to watch the documentary, the newspaper reported, and they got into a scuffle with security guards who attempted to stop the screening.

IE reported that students formed a human chain around the projector and tried to set up equipment. Later, almost every dialogue was met with a loud cheer from the gathering of around 250 people.

Gaurav Jha of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, denied that members from his group had attempted to disrupt the screening.

"They called me up to ask if the documentary was being screened. When I said yes, they said it’s a banned film and can’t be allowed. So then we informed the guards who did their duty,” Jha told IE.

Gargi Adhikari, a councillor of JNU Students' Union, said that the practice of seeking permission to screen films started after film, Muzaffarnagar Baaki Hai, caused trouble. Then too, she said, the students had gone ahead with the screening.